USA-JAPAN EXPRESS: Feb. 19 in Nashville, Tenn. USA 1 Japan 0. Goals: Swanson 45. Att.: 25,471. The sole goalscorer, Mallory Swanson, said it best postgame: “I just think the level needs to be higher.” Coming off a 2-0 win in its SheBelieves Cup opener against Canada on Thursday, the USA ground out a 1-0 win over […]
Arlo Moore-Bloom
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
Danielle Slaton on keeping soccer in her life forever, the Apple TV appeal, and her playing career highlights
Danielle Slaton, who won collegiate and pro championships and was a member of the USA’s 2000 Olympic and 2003 World Cup squads, will serve as an MLS match analyst for Apple TV. She began her TV career in 2010 with the Big Ten Network and her MLS broadcasting dates back to reporting on the Chicago […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
Manhattan SC's Ray Selvadurai on the challenges and rewards of guiding an inner city soccer club
Ray Selvadurai‘s soccer story is like many from first-generation kids growing up in 1980s in the USA who fell in love the sport. In his case, his endless hours of playing the sport included pickup games with international pros who happened to be his neighbors. “I played pickup games with guys who were on the […]
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Enrique Duran on leading LAFC's young hopefuls and the Carlos Vela effect
Thought your commute was bad? Over the course of the 2022 USL Championship season, Enrique Duran’s Las Vegas Lights squad traveled nearly 10,000 miles, for home games alone. The team’s affiliation with LAFC meant that Duran and his players trained in Los Angeles and flew to almost all of its 34 games. Duran, a 41-year-old […]
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Jen Cooper on Houston soccer, the USWNT's 2023 World Cup prospects, and the NWSL boost
Jen Cooper co-hosting the first-ever NWSL Draft broadcast with Jonathan Yardley in January 2016 in Baltimore, part of the annual United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as NSCAA) convention. * * * * * * * * * * Jen Cooper, the editor and publisher of Keeper Notes, has been involved in various areas of Houston […]
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USA-Colombia Men's Friendly Player Ratings
USA-COLOMBIA EXPRESS:Jan. 28 in Carson, CaliforniaUSA 0 Colombia 0.Att.: 27,000 (sellout). * * * * * * * * * * Yawn. Colombia and the USA battled to a snooze fest in Carson on Saturday night in a game that provided nine U.S. players (three starters) with their first or second caps. Colombia arrived to Southern California […]
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Dan Weiler on Johns Hopkins' collective joy, modern college recruiting, and helping players 'find value'
Dan Weiler knows a thing or two about winning soccer games. In two decades of Division III women’s soccer coaching, he’s celebrated nearly 300 victories — with Concordia (Minnesota), Christopher Newport (Virginia) and, most recent, Johns Hopkins (Maryland). At Johns Hopkins, where the Fargo, North Dakota, native began in 2020 but hardly coached until the 2021 season because […]
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New Zealand-USA Women's Friendly Player Ratings
NEW ZEALAND-USA EXPRESS: Jan 21 in Auckland/Tmaki Makaurau New Zealand 0 USA 5. Goals: Hatch 22, Lavelle 39, 74, Swanson 53, Kornieck 80. Att.: 12,721. * * * * * * * * * * In its second match of a series against New Zealand meant to prepare it for the environs of this summer’s […]
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Lisa Wrightsman on bringing the Homeless World Cup to California's capital
One of the key organizers of this year’s Homeless World Cup, hosted by Sacramento July 8-15, knows just how life-changing the event can be for its participants. She was one herself. “I had just gotten past playing college soccer and got into alcohol and drugs really bad,” said Lisa Wrightsman, managing director of Street Soccer […]
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Western Washington coach Travis Connell: 'We can learn so much from our players'
The NCAA Division II women’s final four hosted is a different city every year — Seattle hosted the 2022 edition — determined years in advance through a bidding process. For Coach Travis Connell‘s Western Washington’s women’s team, composed of mostly Pacific Northwesterners, that meant an opportunity to play maybe the most meaningful game of their […]